2021 Maradona Cup

2021 Maradona Cup

The trophy awarded to the winning team
Barcelona Boca Juniors 1 1
Boca Juniors won 4–2 on penalties
Date	14 December 2021 (2021-12-14)
Venue	Mrsool Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Referee	Fahad Al-Mirdasi (Saudi Arabia)
TBA →

The 2021 Maradona Cup was the friendly club football cup organized to honour the late Argentine footballer Diego Armando Maradona, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} The match was played at Mrsool Park in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, on 14 December 2021, ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]} and was contested by FC Barcelona from Spain and Boca Juniors from Argentina, two clubs that Maradona played for during his career. ^[10]

Maradona played for Boca Juniors after being traded from Argentinos Juniors in 1981, ^{[11] [12]} winning the 1981 Metropolitano championship and leaving the next season to then return in 1995 until his official retirement in 1997. On the other hand, Barcelona were the first European club Maradona played for after his first period at Boca Juniors. During his two seasons with Barcelona, Maradona won the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España and the Copa de la Liga. ^[13]

Venue

Riyadh class=notpageimage| Location of the host city of the 2021 Maradona Cup.	Riyadh
	Mrsool Park
	Capacity: 25,000

Match

Summary

After the match ended in a 1–1 draw with goals from Ferran Jutglà and Exequiel Zeballos, Boca Juniors defeated Barcelona 4–2 on penalties to win the cup. ^{[14] [15]}

Details

14 December 2021 (2021-12-14)

20:00  UTC+3

Barcelona	1–1	Boca Juniors
Jutglà 50'	Report	Zeballos 77'
Penalties
Dani Alves Jutglà Matheus Jaime	2–4	Rojo Izquierdoz Pavón Molinas

Mrsool Park, Riyadh

Referee: Fahad Al-Mirdasi (Saudi Arabia)

Barcelona

Boca Juniors

GK 13 Neto RB 8 Dani Alves CB 24 Eric García  60' (2) CB 15 Clément Lenglet (c)  46' (2) LB 2 Sergiño Dest  64' CM 27 Álvaro Sanz  60' (1) CM 6 Riqui Puig RW 11 Yusuf Demir  46' (1) AM 14 Philippe Coutinho  68' LW 18 Alejandro Balde CF 23 Ferran Jutglà Substitutes: FW 37 Ilias Akhomach  46' (1) DF 22 Óscar Mingueza  46' (2) MF 20 Matheus Pereira  60' (1) DF 5 Mika Màrmol  60' (2) DF 35 Arnau Comas  64' DF 16 Guillem Jaime  68' Manager: Xavi

GK 1 Agustín Rossi RB 17 Luis Advíncula  68' (3) CB 24 Carlos Izquierdoz (c) CB 6 Marcos Rojo LB 18 Frank Fabra DM 21 Jorman Campuzano  61' (2) CM 32 Agustín Almendra  61' (1) CM 20 Juan Ramírez  46' (2) RF 8 Edwin Cardona  46' (1) CF 38 Luis Vázquez  68' (1) LF 22 Sebastián Villa  68' (2) Substitutes: FW 30 Exequiel Zeballos  46' (1) MF 16 Aaron Molinas  46' (2) MF 23 Diego González  61' (1) MF 33 Alan Varela  61' (2) FW 11 Eduardo Salvio  68' (1) FW 31 Cristian Pavón  68' (2) DF 5 Carlos Zambrano  68' (3) Manager: Sebastián Battaglia

Match rules 90 minutes. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Unlimited substitutions allowed.

Statistics

Overall

	Barcelona	Boca Juniors
Goals scored	1	1
Total shots	14	13
Shots on target	3	4
Ball possession	65%	35%
Passing accuracy	89%	77%
Corner kicks	2	2
Fouls committed	12	9
Offsides	3	1
Yellow cards	1	1
Red cards	0	0

2021 Maradona Cup winners
Boca Juniors 1st title

References

1. Maradona, ¿el más grande entre los grandes? - RTVE.es, RTVE, 20 Nov 2020
2. Maradona: muere el genio imperfecto on the BBC
3. Diego Maradona: por qué fue el mejor futbolista de la historia on El Tiempo
4. Maradona: el mejor de todos los tiempos on La Voz de Galicia
5. "Barcelona and Boca Juniors will play inaugural Maradona Cup 2021". AS Soccer. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
6. "ম্যারাডোনা কাপে আর্জেন্টাইন দলের বিপক্ষে লড়বে বার্সেলোনা". Daily Dhaka Post (in Bengali). 26 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
7. "Dec 14 confirmed as date for Maradona Cup match between Barcelona and Boca Juniors in Saudi Arabia". Daily Arab News. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
8. "FC Barcelona and Boca Juniors to meet in Maradona Cup in honour of the Argentine legend". Fcbarcelona.com. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
9. "Barca and Boca Junior to play Maradona Cup in Saudi Arabia". Super Sports. 26 October 2021. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
10. Oficial: Boca y Barcelona jugarán la Maradona Cup, Olé by Leandro Contento, 25 Oct 2021
11. A 30 años del pase de Maradona a Boca | Fútbol - La Voz, 20 Feb 2011
12. Maradona a Boca: 40 años de un pase, Página/12, 22 Feb 2021
13. Boca-Barcelona confirmado: jugarán la Maradona Cup en Arabia Saudita on TyC Sports, 25 Oct 2021
14. Boca venció por penales al Barcelona en Arabia Saudita y se quedó con la Copa Maradona, Clarín
15. Boca venció a Barcelona en los penales y se alzó con la Copa Maradona on Télam